GOBI

Global ocean biodiversity initiative

The Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative is an international
partnership advancing the scientific basis for conserving biological
diversity in the deep seas and open oceans. It aims to help
countries, as well as regional and global organisations, to use and
develop data, tools, and methodologies to identify ecologically
significant areas in the oceans, with an initial focus on areas
beyond national jurisdiction.

This initiative began in late 2008 as a collaboration between the
German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), IUCN, UNEP
World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Marine Conservation Biology
Institute, Census of Marine Life, Ocean Biogeographic Information
System and the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab of Duke University. The
initiative continues to seek additional collaborators to help bring
the best science and data to bear on the identification of
ecologically significant areas beyond national jurisdiction. GOBI is
facilitated by IUCN with core support from BfN.

The work under this initiative builds on the scientific criteria
adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) in 2008 to identify ecologically or biologically significant
areas (EBSAs) in the global marine realm. It ultimately aims to help
countries meet the goals adopted under the Convention on Biological
Diversity and at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.
These global goals relate to reducing the rate of biodiversity loss,
applying ecosystem approaches, and establishing representative
marine protected area networks by 2012.

The open ocean and deep sea

The world's oceans are seriously
under-protected. Most conservation efforts to date have focused on coastal
and nearshore areas. It is now recognized that these efforts need to be
scaled up to protect open ocean waters and deep sea habitats, including
areas beyond national jurisdiction. The open ocean and deep sea are a vital
component of Earth's life support system and are home to a major part of the
oceans' and the world's biodiversity. Yet the cumulative effect of
intensifying human uses, climate change and ocean acidification threatens to
undermine ecosystem resilience, biodiversity and the ecosystem services upon
which we all depend. Conservation efforts in the

64% of
the ocean that lies beyond national jurisdictions presents special
challenges, as responsibility is dispersed amongst the many nations and
stakeholder communities. Thus international cooperation and coordination are
absolutely essential.